Description
Small honeyeater with a long curved bill. Male brown, palest on belly, with a scarlet head and rump. Female brown with red on face. Juvenile similar to female, sometimes with less red on face.
Usually seen in singles or pairs. Probably resident, although movements largely unknown. Forages in foliage for nectar and invertebrates. Maintains a small territory for at least most of the dry season. Breeds May-Oct. A cup-shaped nest is built from bark, leaves, other plant parts and spider web, lined with softer material, suspended by its rim in the foliage of a mangrove. Eggs are white, with spots and blotches of pale red. Known clutch size is 2.
Author credit: Lindley McKay
Habitat
Mangroves, and less often monsoon forest. Sometimes frequents lush gardens of suburban Darwin.
Food
Omnivore
Range
Northern Australia.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Species Description is from Museums Field Guide, Atlas of Living Australia at website at https://lists.ala.org.au Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Meliphagidae | | Genus: | Myzomela | | Species: | erythrocephala | | Common Name: | Red-headed Honeyeater |
Relatives in same Genus
Dusky Honeyeater (M. obscura)
Scarlet Honeyeater (M. sanguinolenta)
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